Peace

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.” (John 14:27).

Jesus Vine (Icon)

The one overriding principle of our Catholic religion is the idea of PEACE.

If Christ taught one thing, He taught that we need to maintain a peaceful attitude.

He taught this by explaining that we should love our neighbour, and be good to those who persecute us.  He did this be explaining that whether someone was a friend or an enemy that we must forgive them any wrong that they had done against us.  He did this by explaining that under ALL circumstances, we were required to make sure that we took the higher moral ground (so to speak)…

“Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, 'I go away, and I will come to you.' If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father.’” (John 14:27-31a).

And I am often so fascinated with what Christ told us because He was really so fixated on what we needed to focus on.  He explained in the Gospel passage above that our fear could diminish if we could understand that there is a peace from ANOTHER WORLD that Christ gives to us through our faith.

Once we understand a peace such as that then we can also understand that there is nothing that we can encounter that could cause us to fear.

Pope Saint John XXIII was asked by a journalist how he slept at night with all the responsibility he had in being the leader of the Church.  And he replied that he asked himself… “John, why don't you sleep? Is it you or the Holy Spirit who governs the Church? The Holy Spirit, right? Well then, what are you worried about? Go to sleep, John! Since then, I've been able to sleep like a log.”

Blessed Alvaro del Portillo was dying, and his friends and the doctor were really upset.  And he himself was very peaceful, because he knew that the peace of God was his peace – it was the peace (not figuratively or metaphorically) but actually and practically – it was the peace of another world…

And that peace is common of all the Saints.  Because the Saints experienced the Grace to see beyond the stresses of this world and to be able to understand that everything was passing and that only God and the peace of God remains.

And in understanding that it is very clear that those Saints were able to focus on exactly what the Father had created them for.  And it occurs to me today that every single time that I panic or lose my way, I am merely refusing to accept the Peace from another world – the eternal one – that God gives to all of those who love Him…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.